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“How do you think it’s going over there?”

Brian, Kevin and AJ were playing a round of golf and the conversation had turned to Nick and his apology tour. They all knew that he had intended to go to Howie’s and have a sit down with Addie and possibly Emma.

“If Addie doesn’t kill him, I think it’ll be safe to be in the same room with everyone after this afternoon.” AJ mused. “I really hope it is because this shit has got to stop.”

Kevin and Brian both nodded their agreement and continued to talk about how this whole mess was affecting everyone; none of them were comfortable with arguing and disrespect towards anyone and it had started to creep over to the families. Rochelle was really upset that everyone couldn’t come together and make peace while Leighanne was still on Brian about making Nick paying for their car to be detailed. Kristen had stayed out of it but she knew her husband well and could tell the situation was taking its toll on him. She had wanted to call Nick herself to make him understand that he needed to cut the crap.

The guys were finishing their last round when Kevin’s phone rang. Recognizing Howie’s number, he immediately picked up and asked how it was going. AJ told him to put it on speaker phone so that they could all hear.

“It’s over.” Howie answered. “It’s done.”

Howie’s comments did not come out the way he had planned and the guys assumed that Addie had forbidden Nick to be part of the family and that he wasn’t welcome. They also thought that his interaction with Emma must have taken a turn for the worse.

“I guess we’re going to have one less at your house tonight.” AJ said. “It’s really sad that everyone couldn’t…”

“No, wait,” Howie said cutting him off, “I mean the apologies are done and things are settled.”

His last comment caught all three of them by surprise and there was dead silence for a few minutes.

“Hello?” Howie asked. “Are you guys still there?”

“You mean there were no explosions, no murders, no assaults and your house is still standing?”

“Yes AJ.” Howie replied with a laugh. “Everything is still where it’s supposed to be.”

“And Nick and Emma are good?”

“I don’t think I would use the word good.”

Howie explained the conversation between Nick and Emma; the guys knew that Addie must have been listening in and told her husband about it. He made a point to tell them that Emma was planning to avoid Nick and agreed to be more civil when they did cross each other’s paths. It was disappointing to the guys that they couldn’t come to a better agreement than that but at least no one would have to sit in silence any more.

Before Howie hung up, he asked to speak with AJ privately. Kevin handed his phone to his friend and then he and Brian headed back to the clubhouse.

“What’s up D?”

“Can you do me a favor J?”

“Anything.”

“Can you head over to the hotel and check on Nick? He left here a little bit ago and he didn’t look much better than he did when he got here. I’m not quite sure what’s going on.”

AJ agreed and as soon as they returned to the hotel, he made a beeline for Nick’s door. Gently tapping, he waited for a moment while Nick came to the door. His friend let him in and he knew instantly what Howie had been concerned about. Even though the conversations had been a lot less hostile and difficult than planned, Nick still looked like crap. This apology thing should have made things better but AJ could clearly see that wasn’t the case.

“What’s wrong Carter?”

“I don’t know.” Nick answered him quietly. “Things went better than I planned and now I feel crappier than I did when I got there. I just don’t get it.”

AJ knew immediately what the problem was but he considered that as a conversation for another time. Instead of leaving Nick on his own to analyze the problem, he suggested the guys have dinner that night at a popular restaurant around the corner. They hadn’t hung out, minus wives and kids, in a long time. It gave Howie an excuse to get out and Addie an excuse to sit down and really talk to her friend.

Everyone agreed and Howie left the house a short time later to meet up with his friends. Addie was grateful for the quiet time and, after she put the baby down for the night, she made her way down the hall. Knocking on the door, she pushed it open to find Emma curled up on the bed reading. She made her way over and plopped down on the bed like she had when they were younger. It caught Emma by surprise and her book when flying.

“Really Ad?” Emma asked with a laugh. “We’re not twelve anymore.”

“We can pretend for a night!”

Emma shook her head and smiled; she knew why her friend was really there and she appreciated it. Before Addie could start, Emma told her that she appreciated that Nick came by and apologized. It would make things much easier heading forward but she made a point to tell her friend that she still planned to keep her distance from Nick. She truly felt it was best and Addie could tell that there was no moving her on this point. Instead of forcing the issue, Addie asked her to help plan a cook out and bonfire for the following weekend. This would be a good time to test what would really happen when everyone came together.